Paris Hilton primps for start of cross-country trip

By Associated Press

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The pink pickup truck is gassed up. The shiny metallic trailer is hitched to the back. And Paris Hilton, in a pink and red sundress with a flower in her hair, is posing for cameras on a South Beach hotel balcony.

Let the road trip begin.

In the sequel to Hilton and Nicole Richie's hit Fox reality show "The Simple Life," the socialites-turned-TV stars are driving themselves on a 30-day cross-country trip with no money, credit cards, cell phones or boyfriends.

"I've never been on a road trip anywhere," Hilton, 23, told The Associated Press on Thursday, sitting in her plush hotel room bed. "The farthest I've driven is from L.A. to Palm Springs, which takes like two hours. It seems fun."

Hilton, the leggy blonde hotel heiress, and Richie, the equally blonde daughter of singer Lionel Richie, helped make the first season of "The Simple Life" a huge success for Fox. The pretty young ladies broke free from their sheltered upbringings, working odd jobs milking cows and hawking burgers at a fast food restaurant while living with a family in ultra-rural Altus, Ark., population 817.

They drew laughs from viewers who were amazed that Hilton and Richie had never held a regular job or seen a paycheck, much less know what do with one. They did manage to bake a pie, but the family's dog ate most of it before it could be presented at a local festival.

"The worst thing was working at the dairy farm, cause that was, like, our first job," Hilton said. "I hated the cow smell. It was gross."

In "The Simple Life 2," they'll stay with several different families in a continuation of the theme that made the first season a success. Filming was to begin in the next few days; the show airs in June.

"It's going to be definitely more interesting and more adventurous because last time, we were just stuck in Arkansas with a family, but this time it's going to be different families every episode," Hilton says.

Jon Murray, the show's executive producer, says there will be eight episodes, double the number from the first season. Hilton and Richie will travel throughout the southern United States, towing the live-in trailer from Miami Beach to Beverly Hills. Murray hopes they will again charm TV audiences.

"Paris and Nicole are so full of energy in life," Murray says. "They're outlandish sometimes, they're foolish sometimes, they're a little clueless sometimes, but they really are nice and they're not mean spirited in the fun they're having."

Murray says "the girls" will have jobs set up for them, but will be on their own for almost everything else. They have to deal with their own wardrobes, hair and makeup. If the pickup breaks down, it's their problem. And there'll be plenty of small-town fun, Murray says.

"Everyone likes it because it's for all ages," Hilton says. "People from the city will be like, 'Oh my God, I cannot believe you did that,' and people from the country think it's funny because they do it every day."

Hilton's social life is regular fodder for tabloids, TV shows and Web sites. She also became an inadvertent Internet icon when a homemade sex video she shot with her then-boyfriend circulated online.

But Hilton says the late-night party scene is losing it's appeal.

"I don't like going out anymore. It's not that much fun," Hilton says. "Since the show came out, I can't really have fun anymore because people coming up every minute and, are like, 'Oh, can I have a picture.' ... I really can't even hang out with my friends very much anymore."

While she was well-known as a model before the hit, the show has provided new avenues of work for Hilton. She's recording a CD and has acting jobs lined up.

As for her public image, Hilton says she may be misunderstood.

"People who don't know me or haven't met me they'll assume she's spoiled or this or that," Hilton said. "That's what people will think because of where I come from. Every time I meet someone or people talk to me, they're like "You're completely the opposite of what I thought. You're so sweet."